Shas'Vre K'val fired a volley of plasma bolts from her XV8 Crisis battlesuit into a horde of incoming orks, scattering their scorched bodies across the no man's land which separated their defenses from the jungle which the orkoid plague had infested. The defensive line was divided into 6 sectors, with one contingent assigned to each sector. The orks of this tau colony world had been biding their time, harassing convoys in small bands and stealing whatever they could get their hands on while keeping their true numbers hidden. Their hand was revealed when they launched an immense attack on a nearby military production facility, overwhelming the local defenses and seizing the facility for themselves. Now they were well-armed with haphazardly modified but surprisingly effective tau munitions, and their numbers far exceeded the tau's. So far they had only launched a series of probing attacks with a portion of their forces, but even still they had managed to heavily damage the defenses of districts 3, 5, and 6. If they breached this defensive line, they would have a clear shot to the nearest tau settlement. The next transport ship wouldn't be coming for another few weeks, meaning all the civilians left on the planet would be utterly helpless against the green menace.
I was led to believe orks were stupid… yet on this planet they have managed to both outgun and outmaneuver us. Just who is leading this warband of orks? She thought.
Orks poured from the tree line, armed with retrofitted pulse weapons and crudely-assembled melee weapons. Their war cry was deafening to the point that K'val could hear them through her battlesuit - the sound deeply unnerved her. She steeled her nerves and prepared another volley knowing that if the orks breached their defenses they would be helpless in close quarters and quickly overwhelmed. A series of explosions tore through the main cluster of orks, which took K'val by surprise; she hadn't ordered any bombardments. She was about to reprimand whoever had used unauthorized heavy ordinance before her attention was drawn to a red blur descending from above. The modified XV8 battlesuit landed in the center of the ork horde, drawing the attention of every ork in the vicinity. K'val watched as 'Commander Farsight' cleaved orks like a surgeon, savagely dashing around the battlefield in a way she had never even thought possible with a battlesuit. She had heard rumors of the Commander's combat prowess in the past, as well as his unconscionable usage of melee combat in battle, but what she saw far surpassed even the wildest of tall tales.
The superstitious Gue'vesa have legends and myths of great heroes and demi-gods from an age long gone… perhaps O'Shovah is like the kind of warriors they spoke of? She thought, the spectacle she was witnessing overpowering her usually analytical and objective mentality.
The probing assault of the orks had been mostly neutralized by the Commander, with the few remaining stragglers running back into the tree line. A gargantuan XV139 Supremacy battlesuit emerged from a rocky outcropping to the east, no doubt the source of the unauthorized volley. K'val was too starstruck to reprimand the pilot however, instead approaching the Commander as he pulled his sword out of an ork corpse.
"Commander Farsight! You are certainly a welcome sight for weary eyes." K'val said. "Though I fear that your presence alone may not be enough to hold back the green tide."
"I would like to make that assessment myself… K'val, was it? Morale and strategy are often what win wars, not merely numbers." He said.
That was certainly true of the Rangdan Wars… Leman thought.
"Very well, Commander. Allow me to brief you on our defenses." she said.
K'val gave the two a brief tour of the defensive lines, giving the 'commander' a briefing on the state of their forces, the weapons at their disposal, and the general strategic landscape. The technology of these blue-skinned creatures was unlike anything he had seen before, somewhat primitive in certain ways compared to Imperial technology but surprisingly advanced in others. Could this be some kind of abhuman breakaway faction, or an up-and-coming xenos empire in the galaxy? The idea of inhabiting the body of a xenos certainly unnerved him, but he would have to put aside his discomfort for the sake of the mission.
"So, as you can see, we are operating on below-standard equipment stockpiles and a not-insignificant manpower shortage. Most reinforcements in this region of space are tied up fighting a tyranid splinter fleet, meaning there won't be any reinforcements for a while. Under normal circumstances this would be more than enough to deal with an orkoid infestation, but somehow these orks have managed to capture a manufactory and have begun arming themselves at a rapid pace. I do not understand it myself, as all of the orks I have dealt with in the past have been mindless brutes simply looking for the nearest target to destroy." K'val said.
"Orks are stupid, mindless brutes… up until the moment they are not. It is folly to underestimate them." he said. "Moreover, orks are masters of improvisation. Their tactics may be simplistic, but in large numbers they can become extremely unpredictable. Static defensive tactics may not be enough to neutralize a massed ork assault, especially not with material and manpower shortages."
"If individual orks aren't very smart, what if their leader is?" Admu said. "They don't have to be smart enough to understand everything they're doing, just smart enough to follow orders."
"That is a likely possibility, Admu…" Leman said. "Orkoid hierarchy is highly stratified with their leaders being far larger and in some cases more intelligent than their subordinates. If this is the case, eliminating the head ork will leave the rest without a unified command structure and significantly decrease their strategic capabilities."
"How do we draw out their leader?" K'val said.
"Orks instinctually crave battle, but some battles are more satisfying to them than others. Melee combat is especially thrilling to them, and a worthy opponent will likely draw out the largest and strongest orks." Leman said.
"Melee combat? I'm afraid you are the only one with any experience in that… field, Commander." K'val said.
Excuse me? Leman thought.
"You mean to tell me that none of your troops have close-quarters weapons training?" Leman said.
"N-no sir… it is not a part of standardized Tau doctrine. You are an… outlier in that regard." K'val said, a bit nervously.
Commanding an army entirely without melee capabilities… Tzeentch, you bastard. Leman thought, cursing himself.
"No matter, we will simply have to… adapt our tactics accordingly." Leman said. "They are using the forest as cover, have you tried defoliants?"
"We would if we had any, and we dare not waste the precious few munitions on simply burning down trees." K'val said. Leman paused in contemplation.
"I need three of your most experienced squads, specialized in stealth if available." Leman said.
"We have stealth teams, yes… but for what purpose? Sending stealth teams into those forests would be suicide." K'val said.
"We are not going into the forest. We are assaulting the manufactory." Leman said.
"I… fail to see the strategic benefit to such an operation. Even if we could get the manufactory working, we would simply waste more of our resources defending it from-"
"We're going to destroy it." Leman said. "So far, the orks have only seen you as an obstacle. A wall to throw themselves at until it falls over. They have yet to see you as a true foe."
"What is the difference?" K'val said.
"Animosity. Orks are easily enraged, if we want to draw out this ork warboss we need him to see us as nothing less than his greatest nemesis. The fact that he ordered his forces to seize this manufactorum as his first open act of hostility as well as the unusually well-equipped nature of his troops tells me that this warboss values this manufactorum not only as a strategic resource, but a source of legitimacy. If we take that away from him, he will have no choice but to confront us directly or risk subordination." Leman said. "Then I will slay the warboss myself, once we lure it out."
"Alright… I cannot say I have any better suggestions" K'val said.
"Have the stealth teams ready by sundown, we will begin the operation at nightfall." Leman said. "Sorry Admu, you'll have to sit this one out. Stealth missions do not usually call for heavy ordinance." Admu responded with a disappointed sigh.
Three orca dropships coated in blacksun stealth filters were escorted through the night sky by a swarm of cloaked drones, delivering the tau stealth teams to their destination. Their equipment was light, only enough to sabotage the manufactory and defend their position long enough for extraction. The risks of the operation were high, but Leman had deduced that the only way to avoid defeat by attrition was to act first and bait the orks into attacking them before they lose their firepower advantage. This operation would simply be chumming the waters to draw out the sharks.
"Teams Viper, Lantern, and Grenadier sound off." Leman said. K'val herself, trading in her crisis battlesuit for a stealthsuit, was leading team Viper, while team Lantern was led by a Shas'ui named Shal'ra, and team Grenadier by one named Vel'tan. The team leaders sounded off one by one. "Alright, team Lantern will be stationed at the landing zone to secure our entry and exit. Teams Grenadier and Viper will assault the manufactory from the southern and western entrances, with team Grenadier staying outside while team Viper plants the explosives in the power core. I expect each team to practice operational independence to meet their objectives."
"What role will you play, O'Shovah?" Vel'tan asked.
"I'm the distraction." Leman said, sharpening his blade.
"Approximately 12 minutes to the drop zone." A pilot said over the radio.
"Alright, let us give these orks a reason to hate us." K'val said. "Then, we will make them fear us."
The three orca dropships hovered quietly above a clearing southwest of the manufactory. All three stealth teams disembarked into the tall grass, swaying in the cold night breeze. In the night-vision sensors of Leman's battle-suit, the forest was a sea of grainy black and green, with a white glow in the distance indicating the manufactory's presence. Team Lantern set up a defensive perimeter while Viper and Grenadier stalked through the dense foliage. They stopped at the tree line and split up, with team Viper taking the southern approach and team Grenadier approaching the manufactory from the west. Leman had a different objective. Using his jump-jets, he launched himself onto the roof of the immense industrial building and observed a smattering of orks who were gathered at the front entrance in make-shift defenses and fortifications. Leman unsheathed his sword and powered up his shield, plunging straight into the crowd of idling orks. He landed with a loud thud, immediately alerting the entire ork camp and eliciting a cacophony of howls and shouts from the greenskins.
Time for a distraction. Leman thought.
K'val led team Viper over a small ridge, the sound of their battlesuits masked by the sporadic gunfire and ork hollering coming from the other side of the manufactory. They used shaped explosives to blow open the doors of a loading bay and made their entrance. The interior of the facility was, surprisingly, fully functional and had seemingly been producing weapons just moments ago, before most of the orks had been drawn to the front entrance to get in on the action. After blasting a few gretchin with their pulse rifles, K'val inspected the halted production line. There were piles of tau weapons and munitions, retrofitted with the crude trappings of ork 'technology' which usually amounted to adding metal spikes, larger ammo magazines, and in some cases even multiple barrels. She had seen these in action during the orks' assault on their defenses, so she knew that despite their ramshackle appearance they were still somehow functional.
"Despite being so dim-witted and short-sighted, these orks are somehow able to utilize and even adapt our technology to their own… astonishing." K'val said.
"Shas'Vre… you may want to see this." One of the fire warriors said, gesturing to something above. To K'val's shock, suspended from chains hung a tau battlesuit fitted with the same 'modifications' as the weapons below. It was a monstrous thing, covered with serrated edges and oversized weapons, with a metallic, toothy maw where the head should have been.
"We were lucky we got here in time to destroy this manufactory, if the orks had deployed those on the battlefield…" K'val did not want to continue her train of thought. "The facility should be powered by a reactor core near the central processing unit, if we can find and overload it this entire building will be reduced to a mound of slag and rubble. Let's go."
They made their way through the industrial interior, blasting at the occasional gretchin and wayward ork. The sounds of fighting from outside increased, as more and more orks were drawn into battle.
I did not think O'shovah was so… brash. She thought, struggling to imagine how a single battlesuit could be causing so much carnage.
"K'val, come in. This is Vel'tan. Team Grenadier has encountered resistance at the southern entrance. Nothing we cannot handle, but there are sure to be more on the way."
"Copy that Vel'tan, we are on our way to the reactor chamber. Just hold your position until I give the signal." K'val said.
The layers of conveyor belts and industrial tubing formed a dense canopy not unlike the jungle outside, which slowed their advance as they were forced to clear multiple levels of the building before advancing lest they be cut off by orks. After breaking through an entrenched line of orks and gretchin, delivering each green-skinned defender a plasma bolt to the skull for good measure, they reached the door to the chamber which held the reactor. A sensor drone hovered up to the reinforced metal wall, scanning it with x-ray and thermal imaging. It detected 20 hostiles, stationed around the chamber in defensive positions. K'val relayed to her team of 10 fire warriors which targets they were assigned, then attached breaching charges to the heavy metal door. The explosives blasted the door inwards, which slammed onto the ground with a loud metallic thud. A fire warrior tossed a trio of photon grenades into the room, which exploded with a blinding light that disoriented the orks. Within seconds the fire warriors were advancing into the room, taking down orks left and right with well-placed shots to their heads and torsos. One of the orks managed to grab his weapon just in time to let out a volley of blind shots before his skull was reduced to green mist and he collapsed. The weapon, some kind of crude kinetic firearm, managed to hit one fire warrior in the arm and another in the neck. The former was leaning against a wall and clenching his teeth in pain, his lower arm hanging by a few stray tendons and part of his torn stealth suit. The latter was writhing on the ground, sputtering blood from the open wound in her neck as she struggled to breathe. K'val gripped her hand and attempted to staunch the bleeding, but it was clear she would be dead within seconds. Her hand went limp, and K'val rested it on her chest plate.
"You died in the service of the Tau'va… we will ensure that your sacrifice is not in vain." K'val said. "You, dress his wounds. You, use the control codes to override the reactor's safety mechanisms." she said, pointing to two fire warriors.
The second fire warrior rushed to a nearby console, typing in the codes and moving a series of sliders until they turned bright red, causing an alarm to begin ringing out all over the manufactory. The room began to shake, as the power within the reactor started building beyond its intended storage capacity.
"Vel'tan and Shal'ra this is K'val. The reactor has been compromised; we must begin extraction immediately." K'val said over her voxcaster.
"Copy that, K'val." Shal'ra said and Vel'tan echoed, the sound of gunfire peppering their broadcasts. K'val and the rest of team Viper ran through the manufactory towards the exit as red warning lights flashed and loud klaxons blared. When they emerged, their previously dark surroundings were illuminated by stray fires and near-constant gunfire. Team Grenadier had been pushed back to the treeline where they met up with team Lantern, holding back a growing horde of orks emerging from the darkness. The fire warriors could keep them at bay, but not for long. K'val and her men rushed over to them, adding to their defenses
"Where is O'shovah?" K'val said.
"I am not sure, he hasn't-"
They were interrupted by an ork missing half of its torso charging at them with an axe in its remaining hand, screaming with primal fury. K'val and Shal'ra rushed to ready their weapons, but before they had the chance a red shape fell from the sky and impaled the ork with its sword.
"Is the reactor overloaded?" Leman/Farsight asked, pulling his sword from the dead ork.
"Yes sir, it should begin going into meltdown in approximately 12 minutes." K'val said.
"Then there is no-" Leman raised his shield to block an incoming rocket, which ricocheted off of his energy barrier and exploded to his left. "-time to waste. Ready the transport ships for extraction. K'val hailed the pilots of the orcas, which began revving up in the clearing behind them. Leman deflected a volley of plasma rounds with his shield, before cleaving three orks in half with a single swing of his blade. Then, a hulking shape emerged from the darkness. It was an immense ork which towered over Leman, covered head to toe in metal armor.
"What're you measly blue gitz doin' wit my factory!?" He shouted with a booming voice.
That must be the warboss. Leman thought, readying his sword.
"I'm Irontoof Grizclaw, da best mekboy in da galaxy and da new ruler a dis planet! If you was itchin' to die so badly, you shoulda told me so I coulda killed da lot of you myself!" he said, activating his immense power claw and stomping his armored boot in the dirt.
"Commander Farsight, the orcas are ready for extraction! We must go before more reinforcements arrive!" K'val said. Leman was silent.
I could kill the warboss now, I'm sure of it. Leman thought. His skills are no match for mine. However, I cannot be sure of how long it will take in this body… will the simulation end if I kill him? It would certainly simplify things…
Leman was staring down the warboss, sword and shield at the ready. He eyed the ork like a large predator facing off against a rival within its territory.
"Shas'O, there is not much time! Our forces are going to be overrun at this rate!" K'val pleaded.
If our forces are destroyed here it will severely weaken the main defenses… even if the warboss is killed it may not ensure victory. Tzeentch said he would test my mind, not my combat prowess... winning this battle could mean losing the war. Leman thought.
"Fall back to the transport ships and begin extraction." Leman said, finally breaking his attention away from the warboss. The fire warriors slowly retreated to the extraction point, where the cloaked orcas were waiting for them.
"Where ya goin'!? You buncha worthless gitz is barely even worth krumpin!" Irontoof shouted.
Under heavy fire, the tau stealth teams embarked on the transport ships, firing back on the encroaching orks as they boarded. Leman cleaved another few orks apart before embarking on the ship last, the enemy forces merely moments away from overwhelming them before the orcas began taking off. Stray shots ricocheted off the ships' armor, and the fire warriors took potshots at the orks from the air as defensive drones intercepted incoming anti-air missiles.
"Teams, sound off!" K'val said. "Team Viper sustained one KIA and one injury."
"Team Lantern here, we have one KIA and three injuries." Shal'ra said.
"Team Grenadier suffered three KIA and two injuries. We really took a beating back there, K'val" Vel'tan said. "We are lucky you arrived in time to-"
His transmission was cut off by a stray rocket, which narrowly bypassed their defenses, colliding with one of the three orcas which held team Grenadier. The flaming transport spiraled through the air, crashing into the jungle below with a great explosion.
"Team Grenadier? Team Grenadier, come in! Vel'tan, do you read me?" K'val said, hearing only static in response. "Damn those orks!" she said, slamming her fist against the metal hull of the orca.
"It was my inaction which allowed this to happen." Leman said. "I should not have hesitated upon seeing the warboss and instead stuck to the plan. I take full responsibility."
"They died in service of the Greater Good. They shall be remembered with honor, along with all the others who fell so that we could succeed in this mission. Their sacrifices will not be in vain. I… we will make sure of it." She said.
"You and your warriors fought admirably, K'val." Leman said.
Even without melee weapons training… Leman thought, but he held his tongue.
Irontoof Grizclaw watched the two remaining transport ships fly away, shimmering out of sight as they activated their stealth filters.
"Is dat all you puny gitz got?" he said, letting out a guttural laugh. "You runts just gave us a bloody nose and left! Dat'll teach ya for tryna mess wit my property!" Suddenly the manufactory next to him erupted with fire, the shockwave knocking Irontoof and every other ork in the vicinity off of their feet. The walls of the building collapsed in on themselves as a monstrous inferno consumed and destroyed everything within. Irontoof looked on with a mix of shock, horror, and pure, unrestrained fury.
"You… you gork-and-mork-damned gitz! How dare you take my factory from me! I'll get you blue gitz for dis!" He shouted into the air. "Specially that one git in the red! I'll tear him out of his fancy suit and tear his limbs off one by one!" The warboss rose to his feet, breathing heavily with rage. "You two!" he said, pointing to two of his nobz. "Get all da orks togetha. No more playin' around with dese gitz. We'z gonna attack 'em with everythin' we've got!"
"Oh, and one more thing." he said. "Prepare my meksuit. I'm gonna show these no-good blue runts why I'm da best mekboy in da galaxy!"